The Real Thing
by XanAxe14
Summary: Ben (Neville) meets a woman and her nephew at the store where the boy wants to buy a Neville action figure. For Marlee she was used to Jake's obsession with wrestling, but to have the real thing show up the next day at school is unsettling. Yet Ben keeps proving that maybe he is a real man of his word even when he learns a little about their family. A slight Neville/OC short fic.
1. Part 1

**The Real Thing**

 **Part One**

Ben Satterley had been trying to find steaks at a local Orlando, Florida when he heard a boy talking about John Cena.

The meat section was close to where the grocers had a small toy area and over there was a small woman with a boy no older than eight looking at WWE figures for sale.

"I thought you liked John Cena, Jake." The woman said.

"Cena is okay, but I like the highfliers, Aunt Marlee." The kid said as he placed a box back up on the rack.

"Which ones are highfliers? And what is a highflier?"

"They are people who uses the ropes more than the mat. They use the ropes like a slingshot to do cool tricks in the air. Cena is more ground and pound."

Ben saw the Aunt Marlee shake her head. "Between you and my students, I should know these things."

"Aunt Megan watches all the shows with me."

"Of course she does." His aunt murmured loud enough for him to hear.

Ben shook his head slightly. He really shouldn't be bothered with that. It wasn't as if he had been popular enough. But then again, Neville was still a part of that company even after walking out. He'd had a great couple of months to himself to get his head on straight and was looking for a way back into the game with hopes of getting a better push.

"Oh cool, look Aunt Marlee, it's a Neville figure." Jake said.

Oh bloody hell, Ben turned back to the two of them as the kid was showing his aunt the figure. With his trolley filled with food he had been all for leaving and enjoying some a nice meal on his own. Maybe it was him turning around that caused her to look but Aunt Marlee looked up and over towards Ben. It was really comical to see her look from the picture on the figure's package and then to him before going back to the figure again. It made him smile just a little.

"Can I get this one, Aunt Marlee?"

"Sure, Jake, I don't see why not." The woman said, glancing at Ben again. "We better get going. I have a dance class in forty minutes and I have to get your home."

The boy put the figurine in the trolley they were using.

"I want Neville to come back. There aren't anyone like him in the WWE, now that Tyson Kidd retired. Well there is AJ Styles but even he can't fly like Neville."

Ben followed them, mostly out of boredom and mostly because he wanted to listen in on what the kid was saying. It also gave Ben the chance to look the woman over from the back, with her long waist length blond hair that was pulled up in to a high ponytail and wearing yoga pants and an a sports tank top. Aunt Marlee looked young to be an aunt.

He followed them into a check out queue and waited. The boy still hadn't seen Ben, but the woman did. She kept throwing nervous glances in his direction. She became even more nervous and distressed as the checker started adding up the purchases.

"We don't have enough." Jake said when hearing the total.

"I'm sorry, Jake, I really am. Could you take that figurine off and the milk." Aunt Marlee said to the clerk.

"I'll cover their charge." Ben said. "Just ring mine in with it. I'll pay for it all."

* * *

Marlee Haskill could not believe what she heard. Not only was the man that the toy was based off of standing behind them in line but he had a British accent. And he was offering to buy all their stuff?

"No, it's okay. You don't have to." She tried to persuade the man.

"It's okay, love." He said with a smile. And it was a great smile. "Just being friendly. I don't mind helping you out, especially when you have a fan of mine." He nodded to Jake.

Jake hadn't said anything. He was staring at the man only known as Neville to her. She didn't even know if that was his real name but he was imposing from the fact that his gray t-shirt hugged every possible muscle a man could possess on his upper body and sport shorts. His hair was dark, and pulled back into a ponytail. He wore glasses but other than that, he was extremely good looking. Too good looking for her liking.

"Okay." She moved ahead, lightly pulling Jake with her.

She watched as he paid for all their things, even the action figure. He'd just bought them a weeks worth of groceries that she had planned out every detail for. And when he was finished, he'd placed the items in her cart, smiling as he did so.

"Thank you. I don't know how I could ever repay you." Marlee said as they pushed their carts out of the store.

"Well for starters, I'm Ben Satterley. In the WWE I'm known as Neville. And you're not going to pay me back."

Jake held onto the side of the cart while watching Ben talk. Even if Jake was about as tall as Marlee for a ten year old, he stayed quiet and watched the man carefully. Marlee knew why but she wasn't going to press her nephew into doing something he was worried about. Besides, meeting new people was hard for him before and after everything that had happened.

"Wait. I'm not?" Marlee asked once she realized what the man had said.

"You're not going to repay me for my kindness. You can introduce yourselves though." He offered a smile.

Her beat up Nissan was parked next to a shiny Prius, which apparently had been his in the first place. That was just good, it showed how bad off she was.

"I'm Marlee Haskill and this is my nephew Jake Bingham." She put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "What do you say to Mr. Satterley, Jake?"

He made brief eye contact before his gaze fell. "Thanks for the action figure."

"Call me Ben. And you're welcome, Jake."

"Here, Jake, put these in the backseat." Marlee said as she reached for some of the smaller bagged items.

Jake did as he was told, and all but ran to get the things into the car.

"Shy boy you have there." Ben said.

"He's socially odd. It takes him a while to get used to people."

"No shame in that, really." Ben said as he started putting his things in the trunk of his car. "But it's good to meet fans that don't react like maniacs. Respect is very big for us superstars."

"Respect is good anyway you look at it." Marlee said.

He smiled at her, a smile that was genuine she thought. He finished with loading his things up as Jake came back for the second half of the groceries before darting to put them in the backseat.

"Here, let me take your trolley for you."

"The what? Oh." Marlee released the shopping cart. "Sure, thank you."

Again with the damn smile as he guided his cart and hers to the return spot in the parking lot.

"Okay, Jake, better get buckled up."

He was already sitting in his seat with his boxed toy in his hands. He was already buckled up and as Marlee went to close his door and turn around, Ben was standing mere feet from her.

"Can I say farewell to him?" Ben asked in that British accent of his.

"Sure. I don't see why not." She stepped back a little.

"Hey, Jake, it was nice to meet you." He held his hand out.

Jake looked at the man and took his hand, which was the first time he actively went to touch someone that wasn't family. Marlee couldn't help but to cover her mouth.

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Ben."

"Eh, close enough. I'll take what I can get." Ben smiled at the boy, and Jake sort of smiled back. Another milestone was hit.

When he stood up, Ben smiled at her.

"Thank you," she lowered her hand. "Thank you, Ben."

"You can stop thanking me, Marlee. My mum raised me to be a good person. And you seem to be a good person, treating your nephew the way you do."

She stood there and watched the muscular and handsome man walk over to his car. He got in, and Marlee continued to stare, watching him pull out. He raised his hand in one final wave before pulling away.

"Oh damn, Megan is not going to believe this." Marlee said before getting in her car.

* * *

 **Hi, I hope you liked the first update for my first story. I have two more parts that I am uploading soon, so they should be out for you guys soon.**


	2. Part 2

**Part Two**

Ben had only met Marlee on a Wednesday, but the very next day after a long workout and a jog around his neighborhood, he started to get ready to go somewhere. There had been a sticker in the back window of Marlee's car that said **_Orlando High School Teacher_**. All he had to do was look up the address and all he had to do was drop by.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Ben?" He asked himself.

He stood at his open door, hand on the doorknob and keys in the other hand.

What was he doing? He was going to go look for a woman that he had met the day before but why? What could he possibly say to Marlee that would make her think he wasn't following her like some stalker? He didn't even know what she taught, only that her name was Marlee Haskill. And that she had sunburn corn colored blonde hair down to her waist. He felt his mind slipping into that lustful state he hadn't seen in a while. Ben shook himself of the thoughts and went with his first plan, just find the school.

He didn't have far to drive, about ten miles or so. The school in question was in the rougher part of Orlando, it had several levels and it was fairly empty. He pulled up closer to the front doors and got out, making sure to lock up and set his car alarm.

Ben walked into the building, earning glances from students as they were leaving. The main office was near to the doors and he went in.

The older receptionist looked up when he approached the front desk. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, please. I'm looking for Marlee Haskill, I believe she is a teacher here."

"And why are you looking for her?"

The lie came out, something his mum would have frowned at. "I helped her with purchases yesterday at the market and I accidentally took some of her food by mistake. I remembered the sticker on her car so I thought I would look here."

"Well she is the ballet club instructor and they are practicing right now. But I don't see why you can't go in and explain the situation to her." The woman smiled. "And it is after school, so you don't need a pass. You're such a good man for doing that for Marlee, with how everything is going right now."

He smiled regardless how her statement sounded strange. But she told him where to go, a small gym that was designated for the special needs class for when they did their physical education. It was on the main floor at the far end of the grounds. Ben was more than capable of finding the gym, there were signs up for those to follow. More kids were in the hall, though none approached him they did stare. Ben shoved his hands into his slacks, curled his fingers of his right hand around his keys as he turned down another hall.

At the end of this hall was a double door that was propped open and the melody of a piano filtered to his ears. As he drew closer and peeked through the open door, he saw her hair first, resting just at her backside as she twirled. Her hair danced like a curtain around her as she spun in one spot, arms and legs doing a pose like a ballerina in a jewelry box.

Kids lined the walls, some with obvious disabilities like down syndrome and other physical problems. Some looked normal, others had adults with them sitting down and pointing at Marlee.

She was amazing to watch as her body movements matched the motion of the music. Ben found himself leaning against the door and watched her dance up and down the length of the room, a smile on her face the entire time. She had a smile, on the made Ben smile, as she did her spins and twirls for the class to see.

At the end of the song, she slowly twirled to a stop and the class clapped for her.

"That is just a little of what you are going to do with the other class. When we get together next week, we'll work on our places in the show with them." Marlee told the class.

"What do we say to Ms. Haskill?" One of the women asked.

The class chorused together, "Thank you, Ms. Haskill."

"Mar," one of the children said.

Marlee smiled and walked over to the stereo to turn off the song that came on next.

Ben walked away and waited until everyone in the classroom had left. None of them seemed to notice him leaning against one of the windows, children talking about what their teacher, Ms. Haskill, had showed them and the stuff that she had taught them. Marlee stayed after to talk to a few of the parents that had something to ask.

"Are you sure Jenessa is ready for a performance?"

"She has been excited for the last month and a half since the regular club asked me about it. They think it would be good and wholesome for the kids like Jenessa to participate. And Jenny is very happy to be in it." Marlee said.

Ben smiled when hearing how Marlee was so sure about whatever was going on. She said her farewells to the child that was playing with a Barbie dressed like a ballerina and they left.

He caught her reaching for the duffel bag that was next to the stereo. She may have been small but she had a great presence about her that made him realize she really was a good person.

As she stood up and turned, Marlee jumped when seeing him.

* * *

Marlee felt her eyes widen when she saw him leaning against the door to the gym. Ben Satterley from the previous day was standing there, leaning against the door to the gym and he was smiling.

"I, uh, what...I mean." She stammered trying to figure out what to say to him. "Hi."

He smiled. "Hello. I'm sorry for showing up like this, Marlee." He said.

"How did you know where I worked?"

"You have a sticker on the window of your car."

"And you decided to find out where I work? Why?"

"To be honest, I don't know. You just seem different, that's all I can explain. You were amazing, dancing like that."

"Oh," she glanced at her hands. "Thank you."

He didn't move from the door, essentially blocking her from leaving because the other door was closed. His hair hung loosely over one shoulder and he was wearing some casual looking slacks with a black button up shirt, unlike the day before when they first met.

"Is this a regular occurrence?" Ben asked.

"I teach children ballet. I have this ballet club for special needs students and a three times weekly ballet class elsewhere. I love children. Especially in this neighborhood." She said.

"Speaking of children, how is Jake doing? Is he enjoying the figure?"

"He loves it. He couldn't stop talking about you to my sister, his other aunt, Megan. To say that she's a fan is an understatement. They were talking about your win loss ratio, and how statistically speaking you have a better shot at the IC Title. You'll have to excuse me, I don't know what any of that entails."

He smiled through a laugh. "No worries, Marlee. I'm not offended. It's good to hear that I am still appreciated by the fans."

"I have to get going, I'm the one that picks Jake up from school today."

"Of course. I can walk you to your car if you'd like." He said as he pushed away from the door.

He waited for her to gather the stereo off the nearby chair. Marlee made sure to turn off the lights and as she walked up towards Ben he moved back so that she could get through the door.

"Do you only teach ballet?"

"No. I teach freshman math for IEP students."

"What's that? IEP, what is it?"

"It means Individual Education Plan, for students either with learning disabilities or those that have a hard time with math." She said.

"Is there a reason for you to be teaching special needs children?" Ben asked.

She felt the sweat start to tickle her neck. She reached back and wiped at it as she tried to think of an answer. "If you hadn't noticed, I don't have a normal nephew."

"He seems shy to me."

"Jake has got autism, which is a social disorder where making eye contact is hard, keeping engaged in a conversation will cause him to have issues. There are varying degrees of it, his is what is called Asperger's."

She looked at him. This was where he was going to leave, he would start walking and never turn around to look back at her. Instead Ben seemed to be looking hard at the floor, his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed.

Then Ben looked at her. "I see. From what the mother of an autistic fan told me, was that they have intense fascinations with things, people or the such like cars and trains." He said.

He knew that? She bit the inside of her lip, glancing him over.

She nodded. "Yes, that's right. Jake is in an obsession over wrestling right now. Him and my sister watch Raw and SmackDown, NXT and that purple colored program, you'll have to excuse that part because I don't know what it is."

"No excuse needed, I don't mind. The way the company treats it as an afterthought is the reason why I left in the first place. Under utilizing its talents, putting the mid to lower card superstars in a place and not using them in the main show. That was the reason for me to walk out for the most part." He said that in such a deeper tone, glaring at the black and white floor tiles as they walked side by side towards the main office.

"I see." She said, not really anticipating that speech to happen in the middle of a high school hallway.

He lightly touched her elbow. "I'm sorry, Marlee. I shouldn't have unloaded all of that on you. I guess I needed to say something, because even the friends I have don't understand what I went through. And you're easy to talk to."

"Thank you, Ben. I can understand your problem. I guess we are going through similar issues. School cuts, like cuts in teachers' salaries have been tough, I've taken to having to do private ballet classes just to add some money to my pockets. A lot of the teachers here are taking up part time jobs just to make it through the year."

"Now I see how it was for my instructors back home in England. We've both been thrown into a loop we can only hope to escape from some day."

"Where are you from, you said England. What part?"

"Newcastle upon Tyne, a small river city in the Northeast of England. It's rather pretty there, hills and such. Are you originally from Orlando?"

She shook her head. "Las Vegas. I started my ballet career there, doing dance for casinos with a troop and everything. Then we moved around a lot. My father was in the military."

They talked about small things, like family and friends. She didn't give away too many details about her life with her sister and Jake but she did offer that Jake was in their joint care. She heard about his life in Newcastle and his love for wrestling growing up, compared to his 'mates' who all wanted to be professional 'football' players. Marlee made a mental note to look up British words so she didn't act stupid around his quirky word uses.

Outside, Ben walked her to her car. She was thankful that it wasn't the height of summer or else breathing would have been harder to deal with. Thankfully her hair was still up in a ponytail to give her neck some air.

He walked her to that beat up Nissan of hers, which was parked a few spaces from his shiny Prius. Ben didn't go to his car straight away, opting to stand outside her door as she slid into the driver's seat.

"Tell Jake that I said hi." Ben said.

She turned the key and nothing. The car didn't start up. Marlee turned the car key over several times but there wasn't anything coming on. It was like the car had been dead.

"Oh no." She turned the key again but still, there was nothing coming on. No lights, no sound, just an audible click.

"Nothing?" Ben asked.

"Yeah. It's been acting up a lot lately, I think it's the starter and I can't afford to take it to a mechanic. I have to go pick up Jake."

"I'll take you." Ben said. "You can call a breakdown truck to get it to your place. I'll pay the charge."

"Ben," Marlee started to say. She stopped back he walked around, leaned across her and unbuckled the seat belt. "What are you doing?"

He took her elbow and pulled her out of the car. She grabbed her keys before she was guided out of the car. "You need to pick up Jake from school. Does he like you to be late?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. So grab your things and get in my car."

Even if she didn't have an alternative option. Jake did like to get picked up on time when he had his after school class. The only reasons why he didn't take the regular bus was because of the bullies, which seemed to be persistent when she talked about it to his school.

Marlee sat in silence in Ben's too fancy car unless she had to tell where to go. He didn't say about the tow truck that she had called to pick up her car. And besides the directions to Jake's school, they didn't talk.

Soon they were in the partially filled parking lot of Jake's school.

"When I have my after school classes, Jake has his own. It's an art class."

"I didn't know primary schools had after school activities."

"We're trying to have inclusion of special ed students. Jake has issues with kids, he's more of an adult so he has a harder time with kids his own age. But he does like art. So there is an art after school class that he attends when I am doing my after school class. Sometimes I bring him to my other job."

"The regular ballet class?"

"Yeah, but I teach ballet and acro-dancing to quote regular kids."

Ben got out of the car and followed her into the school. The security guard didn't ask who Ben was, even if he had never been there before. Down the hall from the main office was a classroom marked ART on the door and she walked in.

Her nephew was sitting by himself at a table. Sitting on the table next to him was his Neville action figure.

* * *

 **Here's is Part 2 of 3. I hope you guys liked it.**


	3. Part 3

**Part Three**

Seeing Jake again, this time in a school setting, Ben could help but to frown. The boy was sitting all alone, no one was with him.

"Doesn't he have friends?" Ben asked.

"No. Because it's hard for him to maintain a friendship. Just talking makes things harder." Marlee said. "Megan tries to get him to go out to parks and stuff like that, but crowds bother him, loud noises aggravates him and it will cause him to go into a meltdown."

"Poor guy," Ben mumbled.

He stayed at the door and watched Marlee walk up to Jake. She slipped a piece of loose hair behind her ear as she leaned down and looked at what he was doing.

"Hey, Jake. Rough day?"

"They took Neville."

"Who?"

"Just some kids. Tossed him around but the new teacher stopped them."

"What new teacher?" Marlee asked.

A woman walked up, a few inches taller than Marlee. "Him, I'm Diana Hanley, I'm Jake's special ed teacher."

Diana was black haired, which was in a pixie cut. She didn't look no older than Marlee. Ben tilted his head and watched the two women talk.

"They have a special ed teacher now? Since when?" Marlee asked.

"You weren't told? You're the IEP Math Teacher from Orlando High, right?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, the school district is slowly implementing a special ed only class. I'm helping those right now, the new class won't be starting for a few more weeks though." Diana said.

"Well I guess that's good. But I wish they would have told me."

"Yeah, I know. But at least it's a step in the right direction for the special needs. I guess one too many parents are complaining about the bullying going on here, so yeah."

While the two teachers talked about school politics, Ben approached the table. He walked over to the side of Jake and looked at what he had been doing. The picture was of the Neville action figure, almost to scale and accuracy.

"Hello, Jake." Ben said.

Jake looked at him. "Hi, Mr. Ben. Why are you here?"

"Your Aunt Marlee's car decided to quit working. So I brought her here to pick you up. That's okay, yeah?"

"I don't care." Jake picked up a pencil and started shading in what looked like ring posts. "What do ring ropes feel like?"

"Kind of like gaffer tape over elastic ropes."

"Gaffer," Jake murmured. He seemed to put it in Ben's accent, repeating it a few times as he continued to draw.

From the little bit of autism that Ben knew, it was common for replication of words. He'd met a few in his time with the WWE. He seemed to be popular amongst children with autism, and most of the time because he wasn't as intimidating as the bigger blokes.

"Aunt Megan likes Cesaro and Finn Balor." Jake suddenly said.

"Indeed?"

"Yes. Cesaro looks like Jason Statham the movie star. She got angry when he hurt his mouth and Finn hurt his arm."

"I remember those incidents. Cesaro's teeth got pushed up into his gums and he had to wear braces to get them back into place. Finn is back in action."

"But nowhere near the Raw Title thing."

"No, and that sucks, too."

Ben had to admit, it was easy to talk to Jake. After his shyness eased up some, the boy could talk.

"So you brought the real thing with you?" Diana said and Ben looked at them. "Well, thank you for coming and proving me wrong, Mr…."

"It's Ben Satterley, but Ben is okay with me." He stood up to shake her hand. "I'm just helping Marlee out of a bind."

"My stupid car decided to go belly up on me and Ben came to my rescue." Marlee said.

Diana smiled again, eyes glancing back and forth between the him and Marlee. Ben opted to sit back down next to Jake.

After a little bit, and Jake cleaning up, they were ready to leave. Diana had given Marlee her number and Jake put the Neville figure in his backpack. He left his art in the art room where it was packed away in a small cubby for him. The three of them left together, with a farewell from Diana from the doorway to the classroom.

"So you were having problems today?" Ben asked.

"Yeah." Jake answered.

"Do you mind if I ask why?"

"Because I'm weird."

"Everyone's weird." Ben said, but he realized that Marlee had said the same thing.

He and her looked at each other, which ended up with Marlee smiling at Ben. They left the school soon after with Ben leading the way to his Prius.

Ben glanced over and saw a few of the kids watching the three of them. He reached for the backseat door and held it open for Jake but kept looking at the kids that were obviously pointing in their direction.

"Those some of the troublemakers, Jake?" Ben asked.

He looked over. "Yeah."

"Want me to go talk to them?"

"No." He said as I got his lap belt on.

So he didn't, only because Marlee shook her head when he looked at him. So he didn't, though he knew that maybe now that those little kids saw that Jake was with the real thing, maybe they would cut him some slack.

The three of them stayed silent, except for when Marlee told him where to go. They left the harsher neighborhood, but it was only one step up from where they went to school. They lived in a small house but the area wasn't all that good looking. Dried grass and trees that had less leaves than where Ben lived.

In the driveway was a breakdown truck that was unloading Marlee's car and a woman was standing at the doorway watching it.

"I'll pay for the breakdown and you can head in." Ben said as he pulled up to the curb.

He got out and opened the door for Jake. Ben smiled when Jake looked at him as he got out of the car.

"Thanks, Mr. Ben." Jake said as he shrugged the strap of his backpack on.

"No problem, Jake."

Marlee walked up to the woman that was standing in the doorway of the house, who let Jake in. The woman looked too much like Marlee, like they were twins or something. As promised, Ben went up to the breakdown driver and paid with a credit card he hardly ever used anymore.

* * *

"Is that Neville? The Neville, as in WWE Neville, formally known as Adrian Neville?" Megan asked.

Marlee nodded, pushing that strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. "He showed up at school today."

"Why?"

"He doesn't know why he showed up, but then the Nissan broke down and…" she rattled off everything that happened afterwards. "I don't know what to do."

"He's paid for our groceries, and the tow. Invite his glorious ass in."

"Into this place? Have you seen his car?" Marlee hissed, gesturing out towards the street. "What will our neighbors going to think when they see a Prius out there?"

"Let them think. I want to hear him speak." Megan bit the corner of her mouth. "When Jake said that you guys met Neville, I thought you two were pulling my leg. Now he's here and I am more than happy to hug him for being a sweet guy. Especially to Jake."

"Megan." Marlee couldn't help but to roll her eyes.

"Does he have any friends in the area that he can hook me up with because its obvious that he has eyes for you."

"Are you nuts?" Marlee hissed as her sister.

"Everything all right here?" Ben asked.

Marlee turned to look at him as he stayed on the bottom step of the small porch. He was equal height to her and Megan.

"Fine, everything's fine." Marlee said before she licked at her bottom lip.

"Would you like to come in and have a drink?" Megan asked, and when Marlee looked at her sister she was smiling like an idiot almost.

"Sure, I could stop in for a bit."

She had no say in the matter, this was Megan's home. Marlee and Megan led the way into the house. Marlee closed the door behind him and let the air out in a sigh.

"It's nothing much but I'm a doctor so I can afford a two bedroom." Megan said.

"What's your field?"

"Pediatrics, I also help out in the ER from time to time when there aren't a lot of hands on there." She smiled. "I got the smarts and Marlee got the grace of a ballerina."

"Yes," Ben looked at her, a smile on his mouth. "I was able to witness her ability for the dance today."

"She's good, isn't she? She and her acro-dancing was what really got her famous in our early years, while I was trying to dominate in a mostly male field, she was winning the hearts of many a child and men alike with her grace and elegance."

"You're pushing it, Meg." Marlee said.

"You're too modest." Her sister countered.

Ben just stood there with a grin on his face.

"You're the second set of twins I've met in my life."

"He knows? You told him didn't you?" Megan put her hands on her hips.

"Actually I figured it out. It was either you're twins or you to really look the same." Ben said. "So you are twins."

"We were triplets, actually. Which is the reason we're so short."

"So Jake's mum is the third sister, or brother?"

Megan motioned towards the small dining room kitchen area, there wasn't even an area for a dining room. There was a table set up in there for seating.

"His Mom met a not so nice guy. Long story short, she's going to rehab right now and it's set Jake back a whole hell of a lot in his progress with socializing."

"Bloody," Ben mumbled. "I mean, wow."

"His father died of an overdose, his Mom would have had the same fate if he hadn't called Megan." Marlee said as she sat down in one of the four chairs.

"So he's staying with the two of you until she gets her life straightened out?"

"Pretty much, yeah. We've had to go through a lot of changes for him, especially with my work schedule being the way it is." Megan said. "I'm at the Hospital for long stretches."

"I'm the one constant. It's no fault of Megan's though. I dropped what I had going on to be there for my nephew."

"What did you drop? You mentioned ballet."

"I was an acro-dancer for Cirque Du Soleil," she said in a near whisper.

His mouth opened and stayed opened. Marlee caught Megan smiling at this moment. It just wasn't something that Marlee ever proclaimed out loud to anyone before. She pushed that stupid piece of hair behind her ear as she looked at her hands.

It was at that moment Jake came out of his room from down the hall. He looked at Ben then at the two women and headed into the kitchen area.

"We have lemonade, Mr. Ben. Do you want some?" Jake asked.

It was Megan's turn to go slack jawed.

"Sure, Jake, I'll take a glass. Thank you." Ben said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Okay, it's official, you're part of the family." Megan turned to the Englishman.

"Sorry?" He asked.

"Yeah, what are you talking about, Megan?" Marlee asked.

"Since his Dad died and his Mom has been going through Rehab, he's hardly ever spoken maybe five words to anyone, except for us being family. And here is a real action figure treating our nephew like he is a real human being."

"He is." Ben said.

"That's my point. None of the others who have come in the house…"

"What others?"

"Well I can't really go out on dates because of my job. But Marlee has had them before. And we usually take them through the Jake Test to see if they are worthy of our time."

"And let me guess, I've passed the Jake Test?" Ben asked as he turned to look at Marlee.

Marlee couldn't believe that her sister was actually saying all of this. She found herself glancing back at Jake as he prepared two glasses of lemonade, being extra careful not to spill anything. Jake put the pitcher back in the fridge, got one of the glasses and brought it to Ben.

"Thank you, Jake." Ben said as he took the glass.

"You're welcome, Mr. Ben."

Marlee couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, you did pass the Jake Test." Megan said.

Ben didn't answer, he sipped at the drink as he watched Jake go back into the kitchen. Jake drank his lemonade before putting the glass in the sink and walking back to his room.

"Then I guess you'll be seeing me a lot more. Especially since you need your car fixed." Ben looked at Marlee. "What are your schedules like?"

"Ben, we can manage." Marlee placed her hands on the table. "We've managed so far."

"Yes, but you told me that Jake doesn't take a regular school bus. I'm not busy these days, as you know. So I'll be more than happy to take you and pick you up when you need it. When are your away from school dance lessons?"

Marlee looked at Megan as her sister went and grabbed a pad of paper from the nearby desk. Megan began telling him their schedules, and how things were done, what times the after school program was and when to go pick Jake up.

"You'll need to be registered as drop off and pick up for Jake." Megan said.

"I'll still do it." Marlee said.

"Still, you have to be on his file."

"That's fine." Ben said, not even blinking. "Schools have to be extra careful who they let around their pupils."

Megan scribbled stuff down and as she did so told Ben exactly what it was that they were looking for in the care of Jake.

"I knew there was a reason for you to be here." Megan said as she passed the piece of paper off to Ben.

"Oh yeah?" He asked as he looked at Marlee.

"Yeah. I mean, you're the first to pass the Test and you have proven that you are a great guy. So you passed our test to be a friend."

"Megan," Marlee groaned.

"No, love, it's okay." Ben said as he turned his attention to her. "I like this. It gives me a reason for the day just than going to the gym and keeping in shape. If it mean I help out two wonderful aunties then I would like to continue doing so."

"At least until the Nissan get fixed." Marlee said.

"Or we get another car, which won't be a for a while." Megan said.

"Like I said, I'm more than happy to help you three out in any way possible." Ben took one more drink of the lemonade, licked his lips, folded the paper and stood up. "I would like to say farewell to Jake if that's all right with you ladies."

"First door on the right is his room." Megan said as she stood up.

Marlee was already taking care of Ben's glass as he headed for the room.

"I can't believe you did that." Marlee said as she took the glass to the sink.

"What, it's true. This is something we need, this is something that Jake needs." Megan said. "And it's okay because he's so damn hot, and I think he has the hots for you."

"No he doesn't." Marlee rinsed the glasses and put them in the dish rack next to the sink.

Her sister laughed. "Look at you, Ms. Soleil, you're smoking hot and everyone knows it but you. You'll see, in time you'll see that as the oldest sister, I am right."

"You're older by four minutes. I highly doubt it."

Soon, Ben left after he had given his cell phone number with the sisters. Marlee stood at the doorway watching the Englishman leave, had seen the way some of the neighbors were watching him get in his car and then leave.

They were two different people, they were on two different social levels. He was famous, rich and handsome, but she was struggling to get by week to week.

"Aunt Marlee," she looked back at Jake. In his hand was his Neville figure.

"Yeah, sweetie."

"You can have Neville." He held the toy out to her.

"Why? I thought you wanted him."

"But I already have him." Jake smiled at her. A smile she hadn't seen on him in a while. "I have the real thing taking me to school, and picking me up from school. Why have a replica when I have the real thing?"

He was the real thing, Marlee decided. But was he a real man to be doing what he said he would for them and for Jake.

Only time would tell.

* * *

 **Well there you guys go, the end. This is the last part of the short story for my story. I may pick up where this left off but I am in the middle of another story at the moment that I'm hoping to get out for you guys.**


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